Back from Winter Break, the kids gave me a run for my money this week at board game club, but we still ended up enjoying some modern classics like Machi Koro and Dixit.

Jungo doesn't ask much of its players. Play card combos to beat the one on the table but don't reorder the cards in your hand. It may not be the most tactical ladder-climber but it has confident flair and just enough zest to keep me and the people I play with asking for more and more.

The second week of board game club saw us try out a series of tile games, a particularly enjoyable week for the visual learners in the class who readily took to the spatial patterning in games like Kingdomino.

A recap of week 1 of Level-Up Board Game Club, including a sneak peak at the first bit of our game design project and an overview of the games we tried out.

December has inaugurated a cold snap in the Bay Area, perfect to stay inside for a spell and play some games. Similarly, the new month has ushered in the second trimester at school, which means that Board Game Club gets underway this week. Nine students are enrolled in the after school class: six second graders (five of whom are in my class), two third graders from the room next door, and one seventh grader who I really hope decides to stick it out with all the youngins,' per

Marco Salogni’s print-and-play adventure Gun Trail offers a true taste of the Western. As bounty hunter “Scrooge” Masterson, players explore five maze-like maps as they chase the villainous Gatling Gang and engage in high noon shootouts.

This week, sign ups went out for Winter enrichment classes: crunch time to see if there is enough interest for the club to launch. I only need 7 students to sign up, but there's a lot of competition for students' attention.

In Scott Almes’ The Last Lighthouse, an 18-card solo game from Button Shy, players defend a lonely beacon against encroaching nightmares. This review explores how a minimalist design captures the tension, isolation, and fragile sanity of lighthouse keeping.

A scope and sequence for the first few weeks of the club, including weekly topics, discussion and reflection prompts, and some ideas for games.

Paper App Dungeon is a charming pencil-and-paper roguelike solitaire game that hits some nostalgia but stumbles on gameplay depth and rules clarity. Clever concept, clear execution on theme, but its mechanics feel less than deliberate.

Although I told myself that I wasn’t going to put too much on my plate my first year in a new gig, I am going to start up an after-school board game club. I will use this blog to continue to share the progress of Level-Up Board Game Club, and some thoughts and practices on teaching games to younger gamers. Hopefully this will be a useful resource if you are trying to get something like this started at your school.

Last month I organized a Heat Grand Prix event with my local game store to share my appreciation of the game with others

Grab your colored pencils! In this review of Cartographers, I touch upon gameplay mechanics and muse on why this has become a genre standard

Dorfromantik: The Board Game is the 2023 Spiel Des Jahres award winning tile placement game, noted for its tranquil gameplay

This is only a sample-size selection of the many games I got to see and enjoy at the show. And the year ahead has me feeling energized.

Transform from a mere practicing alchemist into a powerful elemental, and strike down your rival!

Carry a mountain of fun in your pocket. Unsurmountable is a game about ascending a mountain with only 18 cards.

The spirit of the forest will need to move quickly and call to action its closest allies if it is to escape the pursuit of Gamle Erik.

Looking for a bite-sized game that won’t lighten the wallet and packs a strategic punch?

In this review of Apiary, I overview the basics of this medium-weight Eurogame and highlight the solo experience against Automa.